Bottle carrier



May 18, 1948. v w. A. MORSE 2,441,834

BOTTLE CARRIER Filed March 25,` 1946 INVEN TOR.

Patented May 18, 1948 2y Claims.- (Cl. 224448.)

This invention reinante-bonne carriers of the type employed to hold a number of bottles astheyfy are transported frombottlingplant to retail store and further as the bottles are carried from the retail store to the point'r ofJ-ultimatee use.

One of. the primary aims of.A this inventionis the provisionY ofa bottle carrier comprising a,v

main case designed to receive a number of racks, the case and each.` rack being.formedftoy present interengaging parts adapted to prevent lateralv displacement-of the racksV in thecasaevenzthough the casecontains a fewernumbenof racksthanits full icapacity.

stacked'when filled and maintain the racks against accidental displacementv dueto an interlocking. feature forming apart.v of: the rack struc-` ture and vto provide a carrier witha numberf. of separate individual stalls, each capable of supporting a bottle against lateral displacement and tipping.

Other aims of the invention will appear during the course of the following specification referring to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary sectional View through a part of the bottle carrier assembly.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary top plan View of the bottle carrier, and

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detailed sectional view taken on line III--III of Fig. Y1.

The handling of bottle cartons o1' racks wheref in relatively few bottles are packaged, has been diicult due to the inability of the retail store to stack the carriers and to the failure of the racks or carriers to maintain the bottles therein in 'an upright condition. The majority of the carriers must be completely lled to capacity before the several bottles will positively and constantly assume an upright position. Transportation of the carriers when filled with six bottles has also been a problem because jarring caused the bottles to tip and stacking could not be accomplished due to the form of the bottom of the side and end .walls llv yand i8' respectively. .A.- hand opening ISV provided-in tlfiev-endfwall.Hiv-is;V analogous te 1 the' conventional opening` now1em-f ployed in bottle cases wherethe latter. isidivided. f .intofstallsfby complicated and expensive partitions.

Afnumberjofdetents 2li struck. upwardly.. from bottomnvall lof caselil arev kpatterned las illus tra-ted in to cooperate-.with the hereinafter' described-tray-of the racks which hold-six-bottles= It isfthiscapacity of lack-oncarrier that is most cclesirablev for presentationto thepurchasing pub'- lic butfwlfiiclti is extremely lundesirable from the.

standpoint of the bottler and retail rnercl'iant.A

When caseis constructed,v its size-is suchf as to receive teunracks` and. therefore, avcase-havn ing 2 bottle capacity is transportable asca-v unit.'- Each rackfor six bottles comprisesa tray 22. .vhereinis formeda number of cups 2d, the annular side walls 26 whereofk are downwardly and'inwardlyinclined to-receive the bottom of a bottle 28. The. bottoms of cups 2lir have an opening dslightly largerin diameter than the conventional caps 32 and when the racks are not in case lil, stacking is possible because caps 32 of the several bottles 28 project into openings 3i# and against the bottoms of bottles 28 in the overlying rack.

The flare of caps 32 prevents the rack from dropping down over the underlying group of bottles 28 and a tight separable interconnection is created. A plate 3d held in spaced relation above tray 22 is perforatedV as at 36 to present an opening in alignment with each cup 24. This plate 34 is maintained in rigid connection and supported by tray 22 through .the medium of yoke 38. This yoke 33 is U-shaped in form and has the free ends of its two legs laterally extended as atj39 for engagement with tray 22. The bight of yoke 38 lies along the lower face of plate 34 and is welded or otherwise secured as at 31 to hold the plate in place.

A Uushaped handle 4D is mounted on yoke 38 for shifting to and from the position shown in full lines of Fig. 1. The legs of handle 4D are slidable through openings provided in yoke 38 and bearings 412 of plate 36 and when the bight 44 of handle 40 is gripped, this handle slides to a point where laterally extended lengths 46 at the ends of the legs of handle 49 will strike yoke 38 and prevent further upward movement. The position then assumed byV handle 46 is illustrated in dotted lines of Fig. l. In such condition sufficient clearance is provided between the upper ends of bottles 28 and grip i4 of handle 4U for the purchaser to lift rack from case I0 and carry the same to a point of use.

Detents 20 embrace cups 24 and hold the rack against lateral displacement in the tray. These detents will not prevent lifting of the rack however, when handle 44 ismoved to the operative position from between the two rows of bottles and even yafter one or more racks have been taken from tray I0, the remaining rack or racks will not slide about in the tray if the same shouldjbe shifted for any reason.

It is notable that the manner of mounting handle 40 with respect to yoke 38 requires that the handle, through yoke 38, carry the entire weight without imparting a strain to plate 34. This plate 34 serves as a guide or centering element for bottles 28 when they are passedV Iinto the cups of tray 22. The form of these several cups 24 is such as to maintain the bottles in spaced relation and since the perforations 36 of plate 34 and cups 24 ofk tray 22 are arranged in alignment, bottles 28 will not tip nor slide out of position even though some of the bottles have been removed from the rack.

'Ihe structure above described is desirable because of the objects attained as above set down and also because the bottles are protected against breakage due to interengagement during the time they are being transported in the rack. It is possible to construct bottle carriers having physical characteristics dilerent |from those specified and shown and therefore, itis desired to be limited only by the spirit of the invention and scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention what I claim as new and. desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a bottle carrier, a tray having a number of cups formed therein to receive the ,bottoms of the bottles; a plate, having perforations therein, spaced above the tray; a yoke holding the plate and tray in operative position, said cups having downwardly and inwardly inclined side walls disposed to center the bottles in the cups and in the perforations of the plate; and a handle, having a grip slidably mounted on the yoke for movement to and from a position where the grip is disposed above the tops of the bottles in the carrier, said yoke serving to mount the Y plate on the tray.

2. In a bottle carrier, a tray for receiving the bottles in an upright position thereon; a plate spaced `from said tray and having a number of perforations therein for receiving the bottles intermediate the ends thereof; a yoke interconnecting the plate and the tray; and a handle slidably mounted in the yoke and the plate, said handle having stops engageable Vwith the yoke when the handle is shifted to one end of its path of travel.

WAYNE A. MORSE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

